Monday, September 19, 2016

"Canada must acknowledge, and
then constrain, the government’s use of portable surveillance devices
that can indiscriminately dredge data from people’s smartphones without
them knowing, privacy experts say.

Everything
that is known or suspected about the government’s use of these machines
– called 'IMSI catchers,' 'cell-site simulators' or 'Stingrays' – is
chronicled in a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind, 130-page report
written by privacy experts and released to The Globe and Mail.

Federal police have used
these devices for more than a decade, but the practice was confirmed
only this year in a series of stories in The Globe. Now, researchers
Christopher Parsons and Tamir Israel say it’s time for civil society to
debate the pros and cons of IMSI catchers, even if many government
agencies still won’t discuss them."